Wellness makeover #201 Read Your Labels!

Learn to speed read, if your food ingredient list exceeds 3 to 5 ingredients be on the alert.

If you can’t pronounce or easily identify the ingredients, no matter how few or how many there are. That’s a red flag.

Don’t let the front of the bag seduce you

LISTEN TO ME. Even organic, stone ground corn chips are likely made with inflammatory seeds or oils. SO Many processed foods use refined palm or vegetable oils which are highly inflammatory.

SO turn the PRODUCT over, and take a closer look

Learning how to read labels and understand ingredients will be one of your best defenses against sugar, fat and chemicals. Please avoid low fat and sugar free products, to compensate for what’s missing fake sweeteners are added and can induce even more cravings. If sugars are over 4g per serving evaluate carefully AND, if you see high fructose corn syrup listed? Stop immediately. Game over. Don’t buy it, don’t eat it.

THINK ABOUT A Structure TO YOUR eating, the rhythm of regularly timed meals. They Provide a solid foundation (so you are less vulnerable to junk food urges). So, make sure you have reliable healthy snacks on hand. Drink plenty of water! Try to keep prepared meal components in the fridge and pantry so you can always make something. Be sure to get enough well sourced protein and healthy fat. Making sure you’re getting at least 25 grams of fiber. BE AWARE it’s not very easy to do. 1 serving of oatmeal is only 4 grams. SO, you must get lots of vegetables in your diet to get 25 grams in daily!

What else creates sustainable nutrition? Understanding your food brain!! The part of your that makes the decisions about your food, what it is, and when to eat it. So here are my tips for learning how to be in control of your food brain.

Know your food triggers.

Practice inserting a pause when the urge for junk food fixes arise

Take a breath, go for a walk

Notice what is happening in your body and mind

When does this desire typically hit? Is it boredom? Wanting a change of activity? Fatigue OR sorrow OR loneliness? Instead of eating….

When does this desire typically hit?

Know the trigger. Is it boredom?

Wanting a change of activity?

Fatigue OR sorrow OR loneliness?

Increase your awareness OF: Why you want…. And what you want, THEN….

Create tools to resist a craving, and make an empowered, BETTER CHOICE. The most important thing you can do is KNOW YOUR SOURCES. Ask the question! – Where does your food come from? Please get to know your sources! Americans have been long obsessed with the QUANTITY of our food as it relates to health and weight, when it is the QUALITY of food that matters most. Toxin free foods that are nutritional the way nature intended, and minimally processed foods give your body the right signals to stay in balance. Remember the perfect plate – with the volume and mass give way to colorful vegetables and greens. But more importantly, with our deeply flawed food system, it takes commitment to source and buy quality food. And depending on where you live, it can feel like a battle. It’s crazy that it should be that way, but here’s the rub: We have an industrial food supply that has favored profit over health for so long now, that it has made, disease-causing-foods MAINSTREAM and, health-giving-foods, FRINGE. LUCKILY, WE ARE RIDING A BIG WAVE OF CHANGE. Millions of people are demanding a shift from industrial food to integrity food! Nutrition that is affordable, accessible, and bursting with fresh and healthful properties. Thanks to consumer demand there are more farmers’ markets. Manufacturers are changing harmful processes and we are slowly cleaning up the mess.

But the momentum will only continue to build if we all engage.

Remember the perfect plate – with the volume and mass give way to colorful vegetables and greens.